21/11/2013 Riga supermarket roof collapse
Background events The building its self Riga's local media had stated on November 22nd that the building, which was rented from the Latvian construction company Re&Re, had been awarded a national architecture prize after its completion in 2011. According to a press release by Re&Re on November the 25th, the Maxima store had opened in 2011 and was named one of the top 3 Latvian national architectural works of merit. A garden and outdoor recreational park was being built on the supermarket's roof as of November 2013. The building's plans had been developed by developed by Homburg Valda and cost around €1.4 million, 1.16 million euros (812 000 lats) coming from Re&Re its self. The companies involved The 21 year old Maxima Group supermarket chain is a Lithuanian retail chain with shops in all three Baltic states, Poland and Bulgaria. There were recent plans to set up a few outlets in near by places in Russia. The building was rented from the constructors Re&Re. The disaster The event its self Riga's new Maxima supermarket in the Zolitūde district's Priedaines street started to collapse at about 16:20 UTC on November 21st, 2013, as rain collected in a partly built roof garden. It was planned that it would have a layer of soil 20–30 centimeters (7.9–12 in) thick on the roof. According to witnesses accounts a fire alarm was set off and there were announcements made that the store should be evacuated at 14:21 UTC. Shortly afterward, security personnel canceled the alert and blamed welding works in the basement, which was not possible due to the nature of the fire alarm according to its manufacturer. The company's spokesman said that dust probably did not set it off, because it was situated in the basement by water pipes. It was never resolved by the firms technician due to the sores subsequent collapse. About 15 minutes later, a loud bang was heard, and water began flowing from a broken overhead fire sprinkler pipe. Suddenly the electrically operated glass doors also slammed shut, but not shattering the glass panes with in them as some initial reports claimed, as the first section of the roof caved. About 20 minutes later another part of the roof caved in killing 3 firemen who had just joined the rescue effort. Sections of the wall have continued to collapse during the evening, further disrupting ongoing rescue efforts. Witnesses had reported that the roof collapsed over the checkout counters. Latvian television and radio also reported that the roof also had collapsed over the dairy products and fish sections. The city's rescue services believed, as of 19.30 UTC on November 22nd, that a total of about 500sq m (5,300sq ft) of roof caved in. The 27 year old British pilot Paul Tribble, was shopping in the store and survived the incident. The Maxima board member Gintaras Jasinskas had told the AFP news agency on Nov' 22 that 30 employees were in the store at the time of the original collapse. The store became a 1,500 square meter (16,150 square feet) big pile of rubble. The rescue effort 40 Latvian troops and some bulldozers from the army camp at Ādaži joined in the rescue efforts in the evening of Nov' 22nd. The deputy head of rescue services, Normunds Plegermanis, had said emergency teams were faced difficult working conditions early that day. Rescue Service spokeswoman Viktorija Sembele said in the afternoon of Nov 23rd that "The firefighters are still working to find people. They are putting away the constructions and still approximately 600 square meters of this collapsed area should be searched through.". Rescue co-coordinators stated late on Nov' 23rd that “Rescue teams are working in shifts replacing each other every 20-30 minutes as the rescue work is physically challenging.". Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs ordered and official investigation and tweeted that around five people might be still trapped, but rescue teams reckoned it was or 16 by 18.00 UTC on the 22rd. Local ambulance chief Armands Plorins warned on the afternoon of Nov' 23rd that a combination of the cold, damp and the passage of time would slowly reduce chances of survival, but added "But, of course, hope always remains." Police helped rescuers by created a map based on data taken from security cameras that were showing where the shoppers located at during the tragic collapse. The rescue operation was wound down in the evening of Nov' 25th. A total of 557 search and rescue personnel, including 40 soldiers, had taken part in the rescue operations. Hospitals involved *Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital *Riga East Clinical university hospital *Riga Second hospital, and Traumatology and Orthopedic hospital. *Clinical University Hospital for children. Possible causes Latvia's Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who visited the scene on Nov' 22nd, said: "The criminal process has started about violating building standards." Later Latvia's Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis stated to Latvian TV that it was “It is clear that there has been a problem with fulfillment of construction requirements,” to him that there there had been a problem concerning the lack of obedience to building regulations. Local resident Gatis Smagars blamed "Bags of soil and cobblestones piled on the roof" on Nov 21st. The Estonian construction engineer, Toomas Kaljas, came up with the properstion that connections between the horizontal bars that held the roof in suite were inadequately designed and were not up to the job in hand on November 24th. Lilita Ozola, an engineer teaching at Latvian University of Agriculture, blamed the trusses and said the builders should have got planning permission to add the new desinge and/or the roof garden on Nov' 26th. The aftermath Political fallout A criminal investigation was launched late on Nov' 21st and a day of national morning was declared. Some local officials have indicated that the roof garden was possibly illegal and put extra stress on the roof. The Mayor of Riga, Nils Usakovs, abandoned his holiday and returned to Riga on Nov' 22nd. He gave an order on November 22nd that safety officials to inspect all building projects carried out by Re&Re. There was were 3 days of morning in Estonia and 1 day in Latvia and Lithuanian starting on the 23rd. Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said To reporters "This tragic event has shocked the nation, it is unspeakable loss to the families of the victims and the entire state," Nov' 25th. He pledged to investigate the incident thoroughly and to punish those who were responsible for it taking place. Latvian President, Andris Berzins also told reporters the tragedy was an act of "mass murder" on Nov' 25th. Corporate fallout Re&Re is cooperating with all investigating authorities and handed all the necessary information and documents connected to the collapsed shopping mall to the authorities in the evening of November 21st Re&Re and Maxima offered their official sympathies and apologies on the 23rd. Maxima agreed to pay compensation to the victims and families of the dead on Nov' 24th and promised a full inspection of all its stores on Nov' 25th Vladislavs Podgurskis, a representative of Vikom Industry, blamed the bolts joining the trusses together on the 25th. Vikom Industry request data on the bolts from the supplier on the 25th , Eurobolts, but they had none. The owner and CEO of Eurobolts, Olga Romanova, said on Nov' 26th that the company had no information on the bolts used and that the bolts had pulled out of the cement rater than breaking off. Vilis Students, the current vice director of the Latvian Fire Safety and Civil Defence College and who participated in the rescue work said that the concrete components seemed unexpectedly fragile. He also quoted on Nov' 25th "I am no specialist, but we could break the roof components with hammers and pliers. During exercises with concrete objects, we usually had to use a Jackhammer." Death toll It is apparently worst disaster in Latvia since the 1950 sinking of the steamer in Riga which resulted in the deaths of 147 people. The Leta news agency said it was known to be more delay than a fire at a Latvian nursing home in 2007 which had killed killed 25 people. The city's rescue confirmed in the morning of Nov 24 that 36 people were injured, of which 27 are being treated in hospital. They reckoned that there were 7 people still un accounted for. They also confirmed that there were 54 are deaths (51 Latvians, 2 Russians and 1 Armenian), but only 47 were confirmed to be deceased as of 14.30 UTC on November 24th. Latvia's Interior Ministry said the families of the 3 dead firefighters would receive 50,000 LVL ($95,600) in mortality compensation. The medical and pyciatric treatment for rescue workers injured in rescue would would also be paid for by the government. Marcis Liors Skadmanis, who is chairman of the Latvian-British Chamber of Commerce, who had both his father and 23 year old sister were killed in event said that the accident was a horrific national tragedy and brought suffering to many families on Nov' 25th. The funerals for the 3 slain State Fire and Rescue Service officers are to be held on Wed, Nov' 27th. Overseas aid Russia, Estonia and Lithuania all offered rescue teams and equipment. Map A list of other earlyer cases Category:Companies Category:Disasters Category:Riga